The current incarnation of soul group The Drifters have been involved in a serious car crash on the M1 in Yorkshire, with Patrick Alan, who joined the group in 1990, currently being treated in Rotherham Hospital for head injuries. The other three members - Peter Lamarr, Victor Bynoe and Rohan Turney - escaped with less serious injuries.
The crash happened in the early hours of Monday morning when the group's car hit another vehicle that had already crashed into their lane after swerving to avoid a deer. Police say that it was lucky there were no fatalities given the speed the group's vehicle was traveling at when impact occurred. The driver of the other car, who suffered airbag injuries and whiplash from the initial crash, had managed to get out of his vehicle before the group's car hit it.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Alan told reporters yesterday: "I woke up and there was a car stalled in the fast lane and then the airbag exploded. That's when I got knocked out. The next thing I knew the ambulance was there. I have a slight concussion but I'll be all right. I need to be on stage on Thursday".
Confirming that plan, the group's manager, Phil Luderman, told the BBC yesterday that, despite the crash, the group plan to continue with their current UK tour, the next date of which is in Northampton on Thursday.
As previously reported, the latest incarnation of The Drifters, a group that has existed ever since the early fifties with numerous line up changes over the years, is being sued by Tina Treadwell, the daughter of George and Faye Treadwell, who both managed The Drifters enterprise in its heyday (George until his death in 1967, and Faye until she left the UK in 2001) claiming that Luderman and his business partner Mark Lundquist have been violating her family's trademarks since they established their own The Drifters company in 2001 (they had previously been involved in Faye Treadwell's group).